Knowledge and Religion

Why Self Knowledge

Lately people have been asking: “Why should I find out about Self Knowledge. I am busy trying to pay my bills, run my business, and raise my family. Isn’t life busy enough without adding another thing called Self Knowledge?”

This shows how often we do the thing that’s right before our nose, without stopping to take a broader view of life. But if you want to live happily ever after, then it is important that you find out who you really are. That’s because the place we put our identity may seem like our joy, but in the end it could be our downfall too. The reason is that when we place our identity in an object that we see, we become too limited. It’s a shoe that doesn’t fit. If this seems confusing we can give some examples that will clarify it.

Is happiness equal to wealth?
It is easy to confuse happiness with wealth. So what if you identify as a wealthy businessman or woman. But wealth is not a constant thing. If your peace of mind rests in your wealth, even the slightest threat to your wealth, will seem to snatch your peace away. And just think of the misery when your wealth is gone and you have to face poverty. In the great depression many businessmen committed suicide. But there where some who found a deeper peace that was not affected by their wealth.

Once I was wealthy in fortune and fame. I had everything to compete in life’s game. But suddenly it happened I lost every dime, but I’m richer by far, with a satisfied mind.

From an old folk song

Or you can identify as a great athlete at the height of your professional career. But for some, the ups and downs in athletics can by told by the latest win or loss. And when you hit a slump, you really notice it as the numbers that measure your performance go down. Then your body begins to wear out and you can no longer do the wonderful things that you are used to. Lou Gerick, one of the greatest baseball players ever to live, got sick and lost his ability to play. If Lou was not able to find a deeper sense of peace than his identity as a baseball player, it would have felt as if his happiness was snatched away.

Identifying with the mind
Some people identify with the intelligence of their mind. They become doctors, lawyers and college professors. In fact they know themselves and their relationship to the world by this identity. But what happens when due to disease and death their mind starts to slip away and their perceived value starts to disappear? Then what can they do. The answer for them is your answer too. To know yourself as you really are.

Are you a mother or a daughter?
As a father or mother does your peace depend on the condition of your children? As a son or daughter does it depend on the condition of your mother or father? Now Self Knowledge is not the opposite of caring. It just allows you to return to original nature where you stand free from the ups and downs of the world.

So where does your worth come from anyway?
This is the peace that passes all understanding. This peace does not come from what you see. It comes from what you are. Here you see that your worth comes from your very identity; not from some job that you do or some thought in your mind.

And most amazing of all, this is a freedom that passes beyond the border of life and death. That’s because your identity was not created by your birth and will not be destroyed by your death. For a wealthy businesswoman on her deathbed her wealth will not help whatsoever. But standing here in your own identity you will see that nothing really changes and you be free. This is the diamond like freedom that lies at your very core.

So even now while you are relatively young and in good health, look within and enjoy the view from the source of happiness and peace. This will serve you always. Don’t wait until it is too late and you are left stuck in limitation. This is the why of Self-Knowledge.

Other resources available to you
If you need a more basic understanding of this Self-Knowledge or if you just want support for your practice, go to www.light-up-your-life.com and read down the main column. Also check out the different links that we provide as resources. They can help you to sharpen the focus of your meditation practice.

Another resource that we offer is the book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive, a step by step guide taking you from your everyday experience to the highest wisdom and truth. To find out more, click on the link below:

wisdom.light-up-your-life.com

To join our mailing list go to: http://www.light-up-your-life.com/join.html

Please Tell Your Friend
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

A new way to keep our conversation going

We are about to try out a new community forum. I am hoping that this will allow more than a two way conversation. Your questions and comments are of course welcome. To check this feature out go to:

forum.light-up-your-life.com .

Here you can start a conversation and join in on any of the ongoing conversations. Please let me know, if you have any comments or questions.

See this on South African TV
For any of you having the ability to get South African TV, Here is a show coming on June 1^st that might interest you:

Dear Friends,

Our latest documentary “Who Am I?” will be featured under the Issues of Faith genre this Sunday  

(1^st June) from 9h00 – 10h00 on SABC2. It covers the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, HWL Poonjaji (Papaji) and Nisargadatta Maharaj and explores the spiritual philosophy of Advaita (Non-dualism).

Filmed primarily in India, it includes a local segment on the Van Der Westhuyzen family and looks at questions such as “Who am I?”, “What is the nature of God?” and “Is there such a thing as liberation?”                

If you think anyone else out there may be interested in the topic, I’d be most grateful if you could pass this message on.

There’s been some confusion regarding the scheduled time of the programme – if it is not broadcast at

9 am, please look out for it at 11h30, on the same day.

Warm Regards,

Suniti

We wish you the best and hope that you will keep your practice in full gear. If you seem to run into any obstacles please ask here. We will point you to this delicious freedom so that you can taste it all of the time. Just email michael@ananya.com. Of course, we want to hear the good news too as you go deeper in your practice and wake up.

Other resources available to you
If you need a more basic understanding of this Self-Knowledge or if you just want support for your practice, go to www.light-up-your-life.com and read down the main column. Also check out the different links that we provide as resources. They can help you to sharpen the focus of your meditation practice.

Another resource that we have is the book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive, a step by step guide taking you from your everyday experience to the highest wisdom and truth. To find out more, click on the link below:

wisdom.light-up-your-life.com

To join our mailing list go to: http://www.light-up-your-life.com/join.html

Please Tell Your Friend
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

 

 

 

 

 

Which World Is Real

Please join us for a Free Class tonight, Friday May 16, 2008, at The Inner Journey, 222 N. Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030. The class will go from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

What this class is about
If you ever wanted to experience harmony that is not affected by the ups and downs of the world, you will be surprised by how close this harmony really is.

In this class we will show you how to access your direct experience so that you can discover what this world really is. Here you can find a never ending fountain of fascination and joy that’s right before your eyes. You do not have to be a spiritual genius to find this. All you have to do is know where to look.

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Now for today's blog on reality
Today Brigit, my wife, and I were talking about the new online games and chat rooms. They are getting more sophisticated with graphics that represent you. These graphics can hug you, high five you, and perform many different actions.

But the interesting thing is that the more you hang out in these online rooms, the more normal and natural they seem. The interaction of these characters seems just as real as our everyday interactions. The online games that people play like pool and chess seem just like the physical ones.

Where our senses are that seems real
Brigit reminded me that this is a great opportunity to see where our sense of reality comes from. We know the world because of the input from our eyes, ears, nose, taste and touch. In our mind we put these senses together and these impressions form our world. There is one other ingredient that goes into making our world. We take these sense impressions to be reality.

From here it appears that the world that provides us with our sense of reality. But there are little cracks in our experience. When we examine it we start to wonder if our sense of reality is actually coming from what we see. As an example, even though the characters are completely different in an online chat room, from within the experience they seem real.

When you dream, the dream becomes reality
More universally, from within a dream, the dream seems like reality. In your dream you don’t run around proclaiming, “This is just a dream world, it isn’t real” Even if you did your dream characters wouldn't believe you. To them the dream world seems normal and natural. After all their parents and grandparents all live here, and their children were born here too.

Moreover, when you enter deep dreamless sleep all of the worlds seem to disappear. But you don’t panic and think, “I had better get back to the world so I can find reality again.” Although everything objective has disappeared, it doesn’t feel as if reality disappeared.

When you meditate on reality the world changes
This is why as you meditate and begin to wake up from this world, your experience of the world begins to change. As your identity begins to shift from the limitations of the body and mind to the awareness that sees them, you become the reality that you thought you saw. 

And the most amazing thing about all of this is that the very nature of the world starts to shift, right before your eyes. The world that was at a distance comes right inside. And yet it all seems perfectly normal. That’s because you get to see what has always been true. Indeed your Consciousness is the support of the whole universe. It’s ordinary and extraordinary both at the same time.

It is from here that you get to see the universe for what it is. Imagine, the universe for all its vastness and majesty is only a speck in your Consciousness. One of the many benefits of meditation is that you get to see this first hand as your direct experience.

Other resources available to you
If you need a more basic understanding of this Self-Knowledge or if you just want support for your practice, go to www.light-up-your-life.com and read down the main column. Also check out the different links that we provide as resources. They can help you to sharpen the focus of your meditation practice.

Another resource that we have is the book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive, a step by step guide taking you from your everyday experience to the highest wisdom and truth. To find out more, click on the link below:

http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html. 

To join our mailing list go to: http://www.light-up-your-life.com/join.html

Please Tell Your Friend
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

 

A celebration of freedom

Some times we can get so lost in the nitty-gritty of our practice that we lose sight of where we hope to end up. So today I thought we could talk about the joy of looking within. After all where else can you hope to find unbridled joy without the possibility of coming down?

Yes you will be surprised by how free you really are. That’s because this freedom is not dependent on what you think, what you do, or what you have. It comes from what you are. This is where I and joy merge into one unified being. It is deeper than anything that you could possibly express.  

Although the world with its ups and downs is like the waves in the ocean, you are the depths, unaffected by these changes. Look for this freedom in your practice. The fruit is ripe and just waiting for you to puck it from the tree of wisdom. Don’t assume that this freedom is far away. It is as close as your own identity. This freedom does not come from what you see. It is inherently bound to the seer herself.

If you want to discover how free you really are, find this joy when things are not going your way. When times are tough, you mind is tired, and your body is sick. Even now you can find the freedom that was never born and will never pass away. This is freedom that comes from what you are. It is always there to support you. Find this and be at peace.

Other resources available to you
If you need a more basic understanding of this Self-Knowledge or if you just want support for your practice, go to www.light-up-your-life.com and read down the main column. Also check out the different links that we provide as resources that can help sharpen the focus of your meditation practice.

Another resource that we have is the book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive , a step by step guide taking you from your everyday experience to the highest wisdom and truth. To find out more, click on the link below:

http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html. 

To join our mailing list go to: http://www.light-up-your-life.com/join.html

Please Tell Your Friend
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman